The Crush Complication
by KalaLH
Summary: Penny is still feeling insecure over Alex's crush on Leonard, so with Amy's help, she takes matters into her own hands, before realizing she didn't even need to! Another one-shot.


It had been two weeks since Penny found out that Sheldon's assistant had asked out Leonard.

She was giving the impression that she had let it go, and had moved on.

Deep down, she was a nervous wreck.

Penny had finally admitted that she loved Leonard not so long ago, and now felt extremely vulnerable.

She was sat in the living room of apartment 4A WITH Leonard, Amy and Sheldon, being forced to watch yet another boring documentary on volcanoes, and whatever the hell tectonic plates were!

She was sure that she had heard of them before in school, but couldn't remember.

Letting out an audible sigh, her three companions all turned to look at her.

"Something wrong?" Leonard asked.

"No. Nothing at all, sweetie." Penny smiled sweetly, kissing her boyfriend.

Okay, she lied.

Again!

She couldn't exactly _tell_ Leonard, could she? Then she'd be vulnerable all over again.

Penny looked at Amy, hoping to catch her eye.

Amy looked in her bestie's direction and gave a small smile, with a hint of a concerned frown.

"Um, Amy? Could I have a word with you?"

"Sure." Amy agreed, getting to her feet.

"Where are you going?" Sheldon asked Amy, looking disappointed.

"Just to talk to Penny. I won't be long, try not to miss me too much!" Amy smiled.

Sheldon went pink and turned his attention back to the TV.

"Relax Sheldon; the girls are probably bored of the documentary! I'll see you later Penny." Leonard kissed his girlfriend, and left her to go to her own apartment with Amy.

Once inside 4B, Penny closed the door and leaned against it, sighing.

"I'm guessing something is troubling you?" Amy asked.

"No…Well, yes. Kinda…Ugh, I'm sorry I dragged you across here. You can go back to Sheldon and watch the documentary if you want." Penny waved her hands about, unsure of what to say.

"It's okay; I've watched that documentary on volcanoes about a thousand times with Sheldon. So what's up?" Amy cocked her head, looking at Penny expectantly.

Penny sighed again. "Okay, well…Ever since I found out about that Alex going after Leonard, I've been feeling a little…You know?"

"Insecure?" Amy offered.

"Exactly! Insecure. I mean, I finally managed to tell Leonard that I love him, and now this…"

"Don't you trust him?"

"Of course I trust him! I've always known how he's felt about me, but I was never brave enough to tell him how I felt, and now I have, some bitch is trying to muscle in on him!" Penny slammed her hand down on the kitchen counter in anger.

Amy stood up from her seat on the couch and made her way to the kitchen island, sitting at a bar stool.

Penny poured two glasses of wine and handed one to Amy.

"Thanks, but I have to drive home." Amy shook her head.

"You can stay here." Penny offered, "And if you're worried about clothes, I can loan you something."

Amy then realised how desperate for help Penny was.

She politely accepted the glass of wine and took a sip.

"So what are you going to do?" Amy asked.

"I don't know. I mean, I looked into doing some science courses so I'd seem smarter but they were _so _boring. No offence! I tried buying glasses to make me _look _smarter. It worked for like one night. We had sex obviously, and we talked. He assured me I had nothing to worry about; but then the next morning I felt awful again. What if she's making a move on him at work and I don't even know about it?" Penny panicked.

"You know, you _could _go to work with Leonard when you're not scheduled to work at the restaurant. You could meet him at lunch and see for yourself!" Amy suggested.

Penny grimaced. "Wouldn't that be like spying on him?"

"No! You'd be spying on _her!_" Amy corrected, "There's a difference. Plus, Leonard would be so thrilled that you appear to be showing more of an interest in his workplace, that he will realize you really do love him, and he won't need to look elsewhere. It's a perfect plan!"

Penny took a mouthful of wine and considered this for a minute.

"I guess it couldn't hurt…"

"Want me to come along for moral support? I'm off tomorrow." Amy offered.

"Would you? That'd be great, Amy; thank you!"

"No problem, and if you feel the need, you could mark your territory in his lab!"

Penny frowned. "Yeah, no I'm not gonna do that."

Amy just shrugged, sipping some more wine.

..

Penny and Amy were wandering down the halls of Caltech University the next day, on their way to the cafeteria the following lunchtime.

"God, I'm so nervous!" Penny muttered.

"You'll be fine. If she says or does anything to you, just remember your best friend has access to Mad Cow Disease that could accidentally find its way into her food…" Amy replied.

Penny bit back a laugh, as they entered the cafeteria.

They spotted Leonard and Sheldon taking a seat at one of the tables near the vending machines.

Amy immediately applied some clear lip gloss and unfastened the top button of her blouse, shaking her hair.

Penny smiled at Amy.

Sheldon probably wouldn't even notice Amy's efforts, but she still tried so hard to impress him.

Penny started feeling self-conscious about her own looks.

As if reading her mind, Amy passed Penny the lip gloss. "Here, this will help." She muttered.

Penny applied a little bit to her lips and teased her hair.

Handing the lip gloss back to Amy, the two friends approached their boyfriends' table.

"Hey guys!" Penny grinned.

"Oh hey! What brings you here?" Leonard grinned, pulling out the seat next to him and planting a kiss on Penny's lips.

"Well you know, I thought I'd come and see what cool experiment you're doing today!" She shrugged, sitting down.

Sheldon snorted at this, and then looked up when he felt all eyes on him.

"Sorry…'Cool experiment' seems a little far-fetched." He said.

Leonard rolled his eyes and ignored the comment.

"Amy, are you wearing lip gloss?" Sheldon asked.

Penny couldn't help but grin as Amy beamed excitedly. "Yes, yes I am!" She replied.

Penny turned her attention back to Leonard.

"So…What are you working on today?" She asked, resting her chin on her hand.

"Oh not much, just working with lasers." Leonard replied.

"You don't have to dumb it down for me Leonard. You can tell me…" Penny responded.

"Okay, well I'm currently…"

"Hi Dr Hofstadter!" Alex's voice interrupted, as she stood by the table with her tray.

Penny glared up at her.

"Hi Alex." Leonard answered politely.

"And Penny? Hi!" Alex said uncomfortably. "I thought science wasn't your thing?"

"Well I've actually gotten really into it. Leonard was just telling me what he was doing today, weren't you, sweetie?" Penny grinned.

Amy and Sheldon had fallen silent and were watching.

"Hello, Dr Cooper." Alex nodded.

"You saw me approximately ten minutes ago, Miss Jensen." Sheldon frowned.

"I know, I was just being polite." Alex shrugged. "Hello Amy."

"It's Dr Fowler, if you don't mind." Amy replied.

Alex frowned. "Um, sorry Dr Fowler. I just…"

"No need to explain. I can see what you're doing…" Amy spoke up, "Leonard is taken by this breathtaking young woman. Take a hint."

Alex looked hurt. "Actually, I wanted to ask Leonard if he could call Penny in so I could talk to her. But now I see there is no need." She looked at Penny expectantly.

The blonde waitress sighed and stood up. "I'll be right back."

Alex led Penny to another table.

"Okay Alex, what are you playing at?" Penny demanded. "Stay away from my man!"

Alex looked taken aback. "That's exactly what I wanted to speak to you about. You recall that a couple of weeks ago, Shel-I mean Dr Cooper had a chat with me?"

"I remember. You reported him to Human Resources and got him to take an online Sexual Harassment course." Penny folded her arms. "He was only trying to help Leonard and me; he's not good at explaining himself in these sorts of situations!"

"I know, and that's when I realized this whole crush had gone too far. I wanted to apologize to you in person. I won't make advances on him anymore, although he is a remarkable man. You're very lucky to have him." Alex said sheepishly.

Penny looked shocked. "I know I am." She nodded, her voice soft. She took a breath. "I love him. It took me a long time to say that to him, and I kind of admitted it during an argument. It took a lot of courage to admit it, and now I'm vulnerable and I can't stand the thought of another woman trying to get her claws into him." Penny confessed.

Alex simply nodded. "I understand…I was in love once. I was young though."

"So…Where does this leave us?" Penny asked.

"I was hoping we could put this behind us? Start afresh. Message received; I won't muscle into your relationship." Alex offered out her hand.

Penny looked over at Leonard. He was chatting with Sheldon and Amy, unaware of the conversation his girlfriend was currently participating in.

He would want Penny and Alex to be friends, wouldn't he?

Penny returned her gaze to Alex's face, which held a sincere and somewhat nervous expression.

The blonde smiled. "Agreed; let's start over. I'm Penny." She shook Alex's hand.

"Alex." The brunette grinned, feeling relieved.

The two of them returned to the table.

"Pull up a seat." Penny said.

Alex grabbed a chair and sat at the head of the table.

Penny saw Sheldon sneakily throw flirty glances at Amy, and Amy was returning them, a huge smile on her face. Penny smiled to herself; she knew exactly how Sheldon really felt about Amy, even if he didn't admit it. Penny wasn't about to do that to Leonard.

She was going to make more of an effort from now on, even if it meant being friends with the girl who had recently crushed on him.

Penny cleared her throat. "Guys; my new friend Alex will be joining us for lunch." She announced.

Alex grinned shyly around the table.

Amy and Sheldon nodded and smiled acceptingly.

Leonard threw Penny an appreciative look. "Thank you." He mouthed.

Penny shrugged and held Leonard's hand underneath the table.

"Anything for you." She muttered. "Now, how about we set her up with Raj?"

Leonard just chuckled.

..

**THE END!**

**A/N: So that was it! I mainly ship the Shamy (of course!) But I love all the pairings in TBBT, and I wanted to write a one-shot about Lenny figuring out the Alex problem, because it was seriously bugging me! :D I hope you liked it! Please review.**


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